Charlie Kirk murder sparks social media consumption concerns
Mental health experts are sounding the alarm on the psychological toll from repeatedly viewing graphic online content, such as the widely shared video of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, as young people are particularly vulnerable to this trauma.
PHOENIX – Protecting yourself from the mental effects of consuming graphic content may involve turning off your phone more often, but mental health professionals say that’s not always possible. Processing how seeing violence and graphic imagery affects you long-term is critical.
What they’re saying:
“I saw that video. It was gut-wrenching,” said Aida Shahnazarian, a therapist at Horizon Recovery.
The comment followed cell phone video capturing the assassination of Charlie Kirk, transit surveillance cameras showing the moment a Ukrainian refugee was attacked and killed in Charlotte, and other graphic content that circulated repeatedly on social media.
Shahnazarian said young people are particularly unaware of the effects of seeing and sharing this content.
“To them it’s popularity. It’s clickbait. It’s ‘I’m going to get attention, I’m going to get followers, I’m going to get views, I’m going to end up with the little blue check mark next to my name.’ That’s what it means to them because they’re not able to grasp the extensive trauma that it has caused people to see what they have seen.”
The backstory:
Gruesome imagery is not new in live television. In 1974, Florida news anchor Christine Chubbuck shot herself during a live newscast. In 1987, Pennsylvania Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer shot himself during a press conference with news crews present. In 2015, Virginia reporter Alison Parker and photographer Adam Ward were shot dead while doing a live report.
Shahnazarian said media disclaimers help in some ways, “but I think that the constant repetition of showing it can be damaging.”
She said the access to live streaming and who can live stream adds to the chances of seeing violence in real time, something different than past generations.
“We would hear about it secondhand or see it later on,” Shahnazarian said. “Now it’s in that moment, you’re witnessing things, and there’s no filtration system to that.”
Dig deeper:
After the Kirk assassination, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox gave his advice on breaking from the social media cycle.
“I would encourage people to log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community,” Cox said.
These are activities that may help keep people of all ages from becoming too desensitized to violence.
“It becomes to the point where, ‘well I’ve seen it so many times, I could just watch it over and over again at this point and it doesn’t matter,'” Shahnazarian said. “But again, the portion that’s missing is the aftermath of watching it and what that does to someone’s psyche and their mentality just in general.”
Shahnazarian said it is completely valid for people of all ages to be feeling stressed or upset by some of the things they’ve seen online this week. She wants to remind everyone that you don’t have to be personally connected to traumatic events to be affected by them, and that resources are available throughout the Valley.
The Source: This information was gathered by FOX 10’s Nicole Krasean who spoke with a therapist on Sept. 13.
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